The Champions of the Realm
by Lance Carcer
Summary: All the Paladins you know and love in a (hopefully) long running story narrated by my favorite characters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Maeve

Maeve was tired of running, tired of being cold, tired of having to look out after her crew; but she loved it. Sure there were a few bad parts, a few pitfalls but overall but it was a pretty nice way of living. She didn't have to listen to anyone, she could take what she wanted when she wanted, at least until she was caught. Now she was in a nice dry cell, decently warm and totally miserable. While she was sitting there trying to figure out how she could get out, a law bringer came to her cell.

"Get up and no funny business," he said, "someone wants to have a few words."

Maeve got up and flipped the law bringer off, but she came without any resistance.

"it wouldn't do me any good," she thought sadly, she really wanted to rip this law bringer's head off. She passed a few cells on the way to the interrogation room, she noted the inhabitants and the location of exits, windows, and anything else that she thought might help her to escape later. When they reached the door of the interrogation room the law bringer stopped and knocked 4 times on the heavy looking steel door.

"Well, I won't be able to break my way through that easily." Maeve thought sadly.

The door opened and the room she was thrust into looked like any other interrogation room she had ever been in. A small concrete room, badly lit, with a small table and two steel chairs in the middle. Already used to the procedure, she got into the chair to her left and sat down. "Do the law bringers use the same architect for all of their prisons, or are you all equally unimaginative?" she yelled.

"There is no need to yell child," a deep voice said from somewhere, "I can hear you just fine."

A moment later the door opened and a large older looking elf with white hair and some kind of rock arm thing came through the door. "don't worry child," he said, "No one is going to hurt you."

"If I had a credit for every time someone said that to me, I wouldn't have had to be on the streets in the first place." Maeve retorted. She really hated being called a child." who does this old geezer think he is?" She thought, "I could take him any day."

The old elf smiled. "well let's get this taken care off," he said, "my name is Torvald, and I have a proposition for you."

Maeve honestly did not give a fuck what he had to say but it was warmer in the interrogation room that it was in her cell, and she likes to be cozy, so she said, "I'm listening." In the most hostile tone, she could muster, "got to keep face," she thought.

Torvald smiled then he said, "If you stay here you will be serving at least a life sentence and we both know that you don't want to do that. But I have permission to offer you a spot on the paladins."

"What?" Maeve yelled. "You had better not be bull shitting me."

Torvald grimaced. "I hate it when you use such crude language," he said. "but I am not messing with you, much as I wish I was, Apparently you are something of a 'Robin Hood' to the public so we took a majority vote and it was decided that you fit the requirements. So what do you have to say?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Lian

"I don't want toooooooooooooooo!" Lian yelled. She might be the heir to one of the most prestigious families in the realm but she was used to getting her way, Very used to getting it.

Her father's face got red, "You were accepted into the Paladins and you will join! This would make our family even more powerful and I don't care if you don't want to!" he yelled, " You need to put the family ahead of your own wants and needs," he said in a more comforting tone, "and plus, you went to war, there is no way that this could be worse."

Lian scoffed, "When I went to war I was with brave, noble knights. If I go into the paladins I will be associating with common riff-raff." Lian hated the public, why should she be working with peasants? She was a noble! Nobility didn't bother with them. Sure she could put on an air of caring but it was annoying.

Her father looked sad. "You need to learn to get along with the 'Riff-Raff'" he said with air quotes, "they are not very different from us. We are all creatures of the Gods."

Lian didn't care about the Gods. They rarely did anything in the realm, sure they asked their followers to fix things every once in a while but nothing major. "Well," she said, "I don't really have a choice do I?"

"No you don't," her father said.

"Well," she said in exasperation, "when do I leave?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3 Ruckus

Ruckus was so excited. He always loved it when new people came to the team. He remembered how scared he was on the first day with the team years ago, and he knew he didn't handle it nearly as well as these newbies were. The one in pink he didn't know much about but he definitely knew Lian. She was a great warrior and leader, a very powerful ally now.

"I just hope that she doesn't try to fight Zhin," Pip said right behind him.

"That would get very messy," agreed Bolt.

"Hey you, shut it." Ruckus said, "Lian would totally cream Zhin. He wouldn't stand a chance."

"Maybe," Skye said, "although if Zhin got behind Lian or sneaked up on her, she would be toast. If it is a ranged battle over decently flat terrain Lian would most likely win tho."

Ruckus smiled, every time there was a new person joining them they always tried to predict where the new person stood. Some like Skye, Fernando, Cassie, Grhok, Pip, and Barik had been with Paladins for forever. Skye he knew was not one of the founders but no one really knew when she showed up, and no one was going to ask.

"Well," Pip said, "I am going to go introduce myself to the new girl."

"Lian?" asked Skye.

"No," pip replied, "the one in pink, with the knives."

"Ok," said Ruckus, "you have fun with that. I am going to go find some food."

"I am coming too, Ruckus," said Skye, "but you should leave Bolt in your room."

"What?" said Pip, "no backup?"

Everyone laughed. "you got this," said Skye, "and if you don't got this you can just turn her into a chicken and run, although that would make you more of the chicken than her."

More laughter. "Well," said Ruckus, "I am off."

"Yeah same here." Said, Skye.

Ruckus drove Bolt out of the main room and into the side corridors of their base, where their respective bedrooms were located. When they got to his room, Ruckus hopped out of Bolt and opened the metal door. Inside his room looked more like a workshop and less like a bedroom. The walls were covered in blueprints and blast marks from failed weapons and upgrades, and the 4 large Steel worktables were covered with discarded tools and parts. In the corner was Ruckus's current project, a large suit he called the Star Slayer. When it was finished, not only would he and bolt look so much cooler, but the superior weaponry would really give him a needed edge in a fight. He had already replaced Bolt's shielding generator with a double missile launcher. While being able to shield his friends was good, the shield that it produced didn't last very long and was rather weak, so he thought it was a good change. He dropped off Bolt and then left his room, carefully locking his door. He didn't want anyone to see his new project. That would ruin all the fun of the surprise. After doing this he walked back to the main room where he was earlier and left through the main exit there. along the way, he saw Pip and the new pink girl talking. "That's good, thought Ruckus, "I should probably do the same thing, just not right now." His stomach rumbled. "Definitely not right now." after he left the building he walked along the open street.


	4. Chapter 4

Chap 4

Skye was bored. She was waiting at Atomic Liquors for Ruckus to show up. While Atomic was a bar it had some surprisingly good food as well. Ash was here when Skye showed up but that was no surprise. Skye knew that a few of the paladins had gone to the bar last night to celebrate a victory and this wouldn't be the first time that Ash stayed overnight.

The owner was a friend of Ash and seeing as if the owner turned Ash away he would lose his biggest customer, he normally lets Ash stay. The only problem for Skye was that Ash was still drunk if the forty-something odd bottles and glasses that surrounded her were any clue, and while a drunk Ash could make for some good entertainment Ash really didn't make for good conversation while drunk.

"Well," Skye said to herself, "I guess id better order some food." She left her table and walked up to the bar. "Hey," she said, "could I get one of those sandwiches that you got?"

"Which type?" said the bartender.

"The toasted ones with the tomato, lettuce, and that slightly spicy sauce," Skye responded.

"So a number 3." the bartender responded.

"Exactly," Skye said.

She paid for the sandwich and sat down at one of the tables in the corner and waited for her meal to arrive. While she was waiting Ruckus wandered in and ordered. For some reason, his meal was given to him instantly, almost like the bartender didn't like her. Ruckus came over to her and sat down in the chair on her opposite side. He barely could see over the table.

"you know," Skye said, "on second thought it might have been a good idea for you to bring Bolt. Maybe you could actually be able to hold a conversation then."

Ruckus laughed then he responded, "Give the bartender a moment."

In a minute or two, the bartender brought over a larger stool for Ruckus along with Skye's food.

"So," said Skye, "what do you really think about the new recruits Ruckus?"

Ruckus replied, "Maeve might be a bit of trouble due to her background but she will probably fit in just fine. Lian on the other hand... maybe not so well."

"Why do you say that?" Skye asked curiously.

"Well," Ruckus replied, "She seems a bit distant, kinda like she is above it all, us all."

Skye was silent, she knew that Ruckus was right. Lian was being decently nice during her first encounter but she wasn't really trying to fit in with her new teammates. "Maybe she will turn out like Zin," Skye said hopefully.

"Zin," Ruckus replied, "so an infernal pain in my ass?"

Skye laughed, not her fake laugh that she used when she flirted with random strangers, but her real laugh, a sweet sound that seemed to almost jingle as it carried through the bar. Ruckus stared at her. "What?" Skye said, "not used to hearing beautiful girls laugh?"

Ruckus smiled, "No," he said uncertainly. "Just not used to you laughing, you are normally as silent as Androxus."

"What?" Skye asked incredulously, "I laugh all the time!"

"Well yeah, just not your real one." Ruckus retorted."

Skye thought about that, she knew that very few of the other Paladins liked her, only the original Paladins and a few of the newer ones were actually her friends. It wasn't like she didn't like the other Paladins, but she just didn't really socialize with them. She didn't have a reason too. So, most of the other Paladins thought she was a bit stuck up which wasn't entirely untrue, just mostly untrue.

"Well," said Skye, "I guess I should probably work on that."

"Yeah," said Ruckus, "you probably should."

They both stopped talking after that and finished their meal. The sandwich that Skye had ordered was really good as normal, the bartender might not really like her but he sure knew how to make a good sandwich. After finishing her meal, she got up, said goodbye to Ruckus, and left the building. As she walked down the shop-lined cobblestone street she saw that the people were putting up flags.

"Oh yeah," she said to herself, "I should probably get a dress for the fall festival. I'll get some of the girls together and we can go do that, maybe tomorrow."

And with that Skye walked the remaining hundred or so feet back to their headquarters, turned invisible, and walked past a small group of Paladins hanging out in the main room and into her room. Once there she promptly collapsed onto her down mattress, the last thought she had before falling asleep was that she had better wake up before dinner, there was always a party when new recruits were added to the team and she didn't want to miss it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chap 5

(Authors note. Sorry for the delay guys, I am still a high school student so I sadly do not have much time for doing things that I love. I hope you are not too upset ^-^ Also thanks for all the support that I have received for this. I never imagined that people would actually read my stuff let alone like it. I will try to upload a chapter a week but if things get hectic than it might be a bit longer. I will also try to do that major crossover, but I have enough trouble with this so I will do that crossover after I finish this)

Maeve was actually having fun! She had just spent the last two hours or so getting a tour from Pip and a few of the other Paladins when they were able to help Pip out. She especially liked the kitchen that was in the base, while she would have to buy her own food and cook it herself which would be a change for her. How some of the other champions could be so picky as to not use the kitchen and only spend their credits at bars and restaurants, Maeve didn't know. Then again most of the other Paladins were used to having kitchens, so this was probably only a new feeling for her. Her room was also pretty nice, while it was pretty bare, it was still awesome. The coolest thing that she was told was that she would get a monthly salary for just being a Paladin. She could also apparently make extra money by doing sponsor deals and such, why people would buy something just because she uses it makes no sense whatsoever, but money is money. Pip had left a few moments ago to greet a few of the champion who had just returned from God knows where and she was done dealing with people at the moment. She was used to being around people but this was different. It was just too weird for her to have people being nice to her. After spending a while looking out at the city she turned around and attempted to walk back to her room. Thirty minutes later she stood before her door and entered, closing the door behind her. She walked over to her down bed and sat on it sinking about half a foot into the supple comforter.

"This won't do," she said to herself. She ripped down one of her curtains and turned and ran towards her wall, jumped on to it, and pounced straight up so that she was on top of one of the huge wooden rafters that supported her roof. She then placed the top corners of the curtain on one of the rafter beams and drove her one of her knives into it securing it to the beam. She then did the same to the other side so as to create a hammock of sorts. After testing the hammock to see if it would hold her weight she promptly collapsed into it. After laying in the hammock for a few minutes she heard her door open. She looked out over her hammock and saw Pip enter the room and look around.

"Maeve, you in here?" he asked.

"Up here," Maeve said startling Pip.

"Oh," he said. After looking at the window where the curtains used to be he looked up at her and resumed talking. "Not comfortable?"

Maeve laughed, "the opposite really, I'm not used to sleeping on anything that soft."

"Well anyway," said Pip, "It's time for dinner, and then we are going out to have a party."

"Why," responded Maeve.

"It's a tradition to go out to the bar and get drunk when we have a new recruit. Since we just got two we kinda have to honor that tradition. Ash said that she was going to go get stuff ready at the bar early this morning but since she has been gone all day it is probably a good bet that she is passed out drunk on one of the tables. Ying just got back from dealing with some robbers so Torvald had her go over to the bar and actually set up everything."

"Won't she just get drunk too?" asked Maeve. "No, not Ying. I have only seen her drunk once. She isn't really a drinker, and if she was she would probably still do her job because she really likes to set up parties."

"Ok," said Maeve jumping down from her rafter hammock. "Let's do this shit."


End file.
